The Crown is seeking at least 13 years in prison for a Quebec man convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking after a huge drug seizure on the South Shore in September 2017.
Luc Chevrefils, 60, of Saint-Zotique was found guilty in December after a trial in Halifax provincial court. He was acquitted on two other charges - conspiracy to import cocaine and importation.
Although Chevrefils never had personal possession of the 250 kilograms of cocaine found hidden on a sailboat at a Lunenburg County marina, Judge Elizabeth Buckle was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was in constructive or joint possession of the drugs with the boat’s captain, Jacques Grenier.
The evidence at trial showed that Chevrefils flew to Halifax from Montreal on Sept. 3, 2017, the same day Grenier’s boat, the 9.14-metre Quesera, docked at East River Marine after sailing from Sint Maarten in the Caribbean.
Border services officers were interested in Grenier’s vessel. When they visited the marina that night, the boat was there but was unoccupied.
Grenier showed up later driving a car that had been rented by Chevrefils and had 10 new hockey bags in the trunk. Officers searched the vessel and found bricks of cocaine concealed in the forward sleeping quarters.
The border officers arrested Grenier and called in the RCMP. More cocaine was discovered hidden throughout the boat.
Chevrefils was apprehended a few hours later at a hotel in Dartmouth.
According to the evidence, the plan was for Grenier to unload the cocaine and deliver it to Chevrefils the next day. Chevrefils would then take the drugs to a stash house for preparation for transport and then on to Montreal or points unknown.
An expert testified that the cocaine was probably purchased from a Mexican drug cartel for about $2 million and had an estimated street value of $20 million. The expert said Chevrefils likely stood to make at least $250,000 for transporting the drugs.
Grenier, 70, who lived on his boat, pleaded guilty to importation and possession for the purpose of trafficking and received a 13-year sentence last April.
Crown attorney Glen Scheuer argued this week that Chevrefils was at minimum a trusted courier, placing him higher than Grenier in the hierarchy of what was a large commercial criminal endeavour.
“Without the willingness of individuals such as Mr. Chevrefils to assist in the end goal of importation by transporting and distributing it to other parts of Canada, the threat posed by cocaine would be drastically curtailed,” Scheuer said.
Chevrefils has seven previous convictions on his criminal record, including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking in 2002 and cultivation of marijuana back in 1994.
Scheuer said the appropriate sentence would be in the range of 13 to 15 years.
Defence lawyer Pat Atherton said his client was the pickup man, not an importer.
“The real aggravating factor here is simply the amount (of cocaine),” Atherton said. “It’s a lot.
“How many years are necessary to punish Mr. Chevrefils for his particular role in this matter?”
Atherton suggested a sentence in the range of 2.5 to eight years would be enough to address the paramount sentencing principles of denunciation and deterrence.
“I regret what I did … and all the damage that has been done,” Chevrefils told the court. “I’m ready to get sentenced.”
The judge reserved her decision until May.
“The difference between 15 years and three years is pretty significant,” Buckle told Chevrefils. “It would not, in my view, be fair to either you or the Crown to make a decision today without properly considering everything that’s been said.”
